Since being legal in Switzerland over 300 people from the UK alone has gone there to end their life. What is the likelihood that it is made legal elsewhere any time soon? Which US state is most likely to legalise first? Are you for or against?

I'm curious as to why you think it's a bad idea. I would hope that if the day arrives where the quality of my life was too much to bear, that I would be able to find help to bring my suffering to an end. I can tell you, as a nurse who worked in oncology at a major hospital, unofficial "euthanasia" is something that goes on with more frequency than you would expect.

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I'm curious as to why you think it's a bad idea. I would hope that if the day arrives where the quality of my life was too much to bear, that I would be able to find help to bring my suffering to an end. I can tell you, as a nurse who worked in oncology at a major hospital, unofficial "euthanasia" is something that goes on with more frequency than you would expect.

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I'll report my ideas and thots later tnite. I have to run out but didn't want anyone to think I was avoiding the issue. I have a few good ideas I think. be back later! This is a hot button issue.

Euthanasia is performed every day, the difference is we just don't call it that. When ever an MD "pulls the plug" on a life support system we in essence have euthanasia.

Always remember that the rule is that you as an individual have no power, but a major corporation or financial institution can do nearly anything.

If an insurance carrier refuses to pay any more for a patient on life-support the insurance carrier in essence gives the medical facility the order to end the life simply by refusing to pay the bill for maintenance.

There are times were we are more kind to our pets than we are to other human beings. In the 1980's I had a great friend who died in a hospital in St. Paul MN of complications from HIV. His death was one of the most horrible I had ever seen and since that time I have only seen two that were worse.

The next was also an HIV patient that developed non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer. The HMO refused to pay for any treatment other than hospice care for this man and he was placed in a hospice. At that time they denied him even comfort treatments to make his end better. This man literally drowned in his own body fluids when a treatment was denied. I was there several hours before his death and watched as he lay there gasping. Again the HMO refused to do anything else.

The final HIV death of a third and wonderful friend was from a condition called "PML" which is an abbreviation for a huge word. The death starts from a complete liquification of the brain and starts with a series of strokes usually. This fellow was one of my best friends. I watched him lie in a totally vegitative state in Cedars in Los Angeles for a week before the process progressed enough to end the torture. This death is portrayed in the movie "It's My Party" which starred Gregory Harrison and Eric Roberts.

There are circumstances where euthanasia is a good thing because it ends suffering. I have seen cancer patients in such pain that even opiates did not kill or deaden it sufficiently.

Yes, there is a time where existance is far worse than death.

I do not know the legal or religious ramifications nor would I want to argue or debate them. What I do know is that I have seen lingering and painful death multiple times in my life. I have seen what religious individuals would define as "life" be sheer torture with people screaming in pain for days on end.

In my own case, if I were to be placed in this situation I would want a painless and merciful death rather than that kind of existence.

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Although I don't live in the US, I thought I would still give my two bits worth in relation to Euthanasia. Personally I think it should be made legal pending several criteria;

The person must be of sound mind to decide this option.

The person must not be presurised into doing this by any member of their family or peers.

The person must have a terminal illness that is non-curable and debilitating.

My reasoning behind this. Try watching your father slowly die of cancer after being misdiagnosed 3 times. Nothing says legalise it than watching a former healthy guy cry and beg you to put a pillow over their face so they can die after the cancer had spread from their lungs to their spinal cord resulting in being paralysed.

And before anybody says he could have had treatment, he had chemo & radium therapy and surgery to try and remove the cancer after they finally diagnosed it, all of which failed due to late diagnosis.

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When my mother was in the final days of her life it was unspoken but understood that this is what we were doing when we put her on morphine and gradually increased the dosage. It was one of the most heart rending decisions I have ever had to make. When we started the IV while she was still conscious she said it is the first time she had felt any sort of equilibrium or relief since she became ill. If I am ever in the same situation I hope someone will make that decision for me.

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Humans hold onto the idea that human life is special and only God should take that away. And to circumvent God's decision is evil. It's always OK to euthanize an animal as it has no soul anyway and God does not care about them so we can take their lives at will.

People get the right to decided if a unborn child will be born or not, which i totally support. So why would we not allow a person the dignity of choosing if they continue to live and suffer or if they end it?